Philip / ApeonApe
Philip began as ApeonApe, an Australian JoaFruit reader, and became a friend at exactly the right moment. During the collapse of my Tokyo Christmas in 2003, he fed me green curry and iced coffee while I explained the boyfriend disaster. A few days later, he and his Japanese boyfriend K lent me their couch until New Year. Philip had gone from reader to refuge with extraordinary kindness. Recover from Christmas with new friend ApeonApe → Prepare to move in with ApeonApe →
He was a core member of the Koenji Rats, a group of mixed international couples living in or around Koenji. They were a few years older than me, cool, urban and sophisticated. There were graphic designers, aspiring filmmakers and people who appeared to know how Tokyo worked. Philip made small leather goods by hand. They were already living the logical urban, artistic next step I imagined for myself. Philip also took a photo of me in a winter hat, looking as though somebody had sat on my face “and not in a nice way”. Naturally, I sent the picture to JT LeRoy. Take the winter-hat portrait → Join Philip’s art-and-homo-gaijin conversation →
On New Year’s Eve I went out with Philip, K and the Rats. We drank tequila, descended on Ni-Chome and met Kenken, a refreshing 28-year-old J-boy. The evening ended with a romantic and unexpected New Year’s smooch. Philip’s kindness opened the door to my first head-over-heels meaningful relationship, for which I'll always be grateful. Enter the New Year party where I met Kenken → Meet the officially licensed Beautiful Abuser →